The Gingerbread Train Book Cover

To learn more interesting facts about the book, and The Gingerbread Train - Santa's Secret Gift's story, CLICK HERE!

Behind the Stories

Ann Tarpley Francesco's son, Matthew, has loved trains since he was a toddler. Countless hours were spent near local train tracks to watch the powerful locomotives pull cars filled with freight. Matthew’s favorite activity at home was playing with model trains and watching real trains travel through his hometown. 
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His love of trains inspired Ann when Matthew received a first grade weekly assignment that included the child writing a short letter to parents, and parents responding every Monday. For something different, Ann decided to write rhyming poems that were related to what they were learning in class, while incorporating trains into the poetry for Matthew’s benefit. His teacher read all the parents’ letters out loud in class each week.  Not only did Matthew love the poems, but the students enjoyed hearing them as well. 

Ann enjoyed reading her rhyming stories to her children and their friends. She knew one day she would bring  one of her rhymes to life for the whole world to enjoy in a book some day. Do You Like Trains? , Ann's latest book, is one of her favorite poems, inspired by one of her favorite children's book authors, Dr Seuss. 

The inspiration for The Gingerbread Train was stimulated from when Ann and her two children made a gingerbread train and proudly displayed it on the kitchen island. This sparked the idea of a story where the train was made out of gingerbread.

Originally written as a Christmas present for her children, The Gingerbread Train took on a life of its own! Matthew’s love of trains inspired Ann to write books about trains. Her love of writing, cooking and teaching has inspired so much more! 

Do You Like Trains? Book Cover

To learn more interesting facts about the book, and the Do You Like Trains? story, CLICK HERE!